1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns mechanical fasteners such as hook-and-loop fasteners and is especially concerned with a mushroom-type hook strip such as can releasably close a garment, e.g., a disposable garment such as a diaper or a hospital gown. The invention also concerns mushroom-type hermaphroditic mechanical fasteners.
2. Description of the Related Art
Widely used as garment fasteners are hook-and-loop fasteners such as are currently marketed under the trademark VELCRO by Velcro USA Inc. and under the trademark SCOTCHMATE by 3M Co. As taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,717,437 and 3,009,235 (both DeMestral), the hook strip can be made from special warps of upstanding nylon loop pile. One leg of each loop is cut to leave an open-ended hook, which is available to act as a fastening element.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,865 (Erb) of American Velcro Inc. describes injection molding techniques for manufacturing the hook strip of a hook-and-loop fastener. This, it says, provides "production rates which are faster than the weaving techniques required in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,717,437 and 3,009,235." The Erb techniques employ a closed loop of a large number of shallow wire dies. While applying a vacuum to evacuate the wire dies, the closed loop is passed through an extruder by which molten plastic such as nylon is forced through the dies, to impregnate a fabric web immediately beneath the dies. Upon exiting from the extruder, excess resin is stripped from the surfaces of the dies to leave resilient hooks that are progressively cammed out of the dies and then spring back to provide an orderly array of hooks projecting from the plastic impregnated fabric web. Instead of using a fabric web, the apparatus can be modified to create a space beyond the wire dies into which the molten plastic can flow to form an all-plastic backing for the hooks. Another Erb U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,863 concerns similar apparatus for producing a similar hook-bearing strip. In spite of these Erb patents, the hook strips of "Velcro" hook-and-loop fasteners, as marketed today, are predominantly made by weaving techniques.
Another procedure for continuously molding a hook strip is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,000 (Meazin et al.).
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,725 (Hamano), the hook strip of a hook-and-loop fastener is made from a fabric having an orderly array of upstanding loops. After inserting rods into rows of loops to maintain their upstanding position, platens or rollers apply heat and pressure to melt each loop at its summit and to press each free molten end to form a knob or head that can interengage with the loop strip of a hook-and-loop fastener. Because the knobs or heads afford a mushroom appearance, this type of hook fastener is called "mushroom-type".
Although a hook strip of a hook-and-loop fastener is typically sold with a cooperating loop strip, the hook strip can be used by itself to become releasably fastened to fabrics that can be easily penetrated by the hooks. Mushroom-type hook strips are particularly suited for such use. For example, mushroom-type hook strips can be designed to become releasably fastened to burlap, terry cloth, and tricot.
Mushroom-type mechanical fasteners are sometimes designed so that two hook strips can be used to fasten two articles together by adhering each strip to one of the articles and then interengaging the two strips. Such a mushroom-type mechanical fastener is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,589 (Pearson) which calls the fastener "hermaphroditic" because its headed studs have both male and female characteristics when intermeshed. The Pearson fasteners can be made by molding a base from which integral headless studs project and then heat softening the tips of the studs.
The hermaphroditic mushroom-type mechanical fastener shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,174 (Kalleberg) is made with flexible, resilient, U-shaped monofilaments. The bight portion of each monofilament is embedded in a flexible bonding layer so that two stems project normally from the surface of the bonding layer. There is a mushroom head at the tip of each stem. The stems preferably are substantially uniformly spaced and of substantially equal length. Maximum disengagement force is achieved when the spacing between adjacent heads is less than their diameters and the minimum required for engagement. The monofilaments preferably are longitudinally oriented polyolefin, and the bonding layer preferably is polyolefin to permit the monofilaments to be heat fused into the bonding layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,408,705 (Kayser et al.) shows mushroom-type mechanical fasteners having mushroom heads of several shapes.